Barbs
by Rebecca Hb
Summary: Azula wants to have a little fun, but Ichiro isn't being cooperative. Sequel to "There is Now War in Ba Sing Se".


**Barbs**

###

Azula breathed. In for seven, hold for seven, out for seven. It was the only thing keeping her temper in check - Ichiro and the twins still weren't here! They needed to be here, so she could order them to dress as befit their stations! So Ichiro would have to ape being a daimyo's son, and she could laugh behind her hand with Mai. Well, laugh while Mai smirked, which was much the same thing.

The door opened, stone whispering over stone. A Dai Li stood there, the habitually scowling one. He stepped aside to reveal Ichiro and the twins-

- already dressed appropriately for their ranks, if in greens instead of reds.

Azula's eyes narrowed. "You're _late_."

"We weren't going to present them to you dressed like paupers, **princess**," the Dai Li said. "That'd have been rude."

Azula glared at him. Something about his constant _politeness_ nearly set her to blazing. It wasn't any different from the courtesy shown by other Dai Li - except how it was.

He bowed and stepped back towards the door.

She forced herself to smile. "_Such_ helpfulness. I'll have to remember it when I return to the Fire Nation."

The Dai Li bowed again and left Ichiro and the twins alone with her.

Azula's smile sharpened. "Ichiro. Kouji. Yui. It's so good to see you again. Why, I can't imagine what terrible misfortune separated you from your lord father and stranded you in Ba Sing Se."

"Not so terrible as yours, I'm sure." Ichiro smiled, then his brother and sister both nudged him in the side. His smile faded, then he bowed precisely the right depth for a child of a powerful daimyo to a princess, and not a touch more. "It's been... difficult. But I thank you for retrieving us."

The last six words sounded like they were pulled out of him with tongs.

"I couldn't leave a _loyal_ son of the Fire Nation trapped behind enemy lines, could I?"

Ichiro bared his teeth. "Your devotion to the good of the Fire Nation is well-known."

Zuko would have been wounded by such words. She felt barely a pricking - but she'd always been stronger than her poor, stupid brother. Idly, she noted the unease in the twins. Yui was trying not to wring her hands, and little ridges formed and smoothed around Kouji's feet. _Interesting._ She didn't remember the little brat being so free with his earthbending before. Being in a city of his own kind had changed him.

"My devotion has brought you home. Well. Will bring you home." Azula studied her nails. "If Daimyo-General Torao doesn't arrive here first. He's been so worried about his children."

"We'll be glad to see our lord father again." Ichiro inclined his head. "I imagine you will be, too. Once there's a Fire Nation general here, you won't be required to stay any longer."

Azula narrowed her eyes. Yes, as the heir to the Bronze Throne, she should return to the Fire Nation with all due speed. But Ba Sing Se was _hers_! She'd won it all by herself, and she should be the one who decided its fate. Not some distant cousin Father didn't even like! "Like you, I'll be glad to return to someplace civilized." She didn't bother to feign surprise for her next barb. "... oh. You've never been to the Fire Nation. I'd forgotten."

Only a blind girl could have called the expression on Ichiro's face a smile. "I'm not missing much."

"Yes, you are." Azula _was_ smiling. "Enough small talk. You need to meet my Dai Li captains - they will be assisting us in securing the city until actual soldiers arrive."

Heat waves rose from Ichiro's shoulders, but the twins nudged him again, then all three bowed in acknowledgment. Pity. Ichiro needed to be taught his place.

"Qin, Jae." The two younger captains appeared obediently from one of the secret doors. Jae still had that insolent look on his face - she'd need to deal with him. "Xiang." The scowling captain reappeared in the doorway, the masked one just a step behind him. "I believe you already know Liu."

Much to her annoyance, Ichiro didn't even look betrayed. "We've met."

"Good. You should have no problems working together to secure Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation, then." She couldn't even tell if Liu reacted to anything behind that mask of his. "Joo Dee can act as the twins' tutor - I'm sure they missed a lot of schooling. Since you went running off from your lord father, I mean."

Ichiro's jaw twitched, but he kept a rein on his temper. Kouji glared at her darkly and did not earthbend in the slightest.

Ugh. They were being even less fun than Mai.

"Dismissed," she said curtly. The twins bowed, then elbowed Ichiro in the sides until he also bowed. Then all three backed out of the room, Ichiro not even glancing at the masked Dai Li captain as he passed.

Azula waited until they were out of sight to set the desk on fire.

**-End-**


End file.
